Rockies beat the Rangers 6-1 yesterday, as Neftali Feliz got his second start of Spring Training under his belt. Of bigger concern was the injury to Josh Hamilton’s heel that occurred in the second inning.

Feliz struck out 3 over 3 innings, giving up 1 run off of 4 hits and a walk (47 pitches, 32 for strikes). More importantly, Neftali was able to get himself out of two jams with inning-ending double plays which lessened the damage and showed that the closer-turned-starter was able to buckle down in crunch time.

Ron Washington on the start, ”He pitched well. He went out there once again and used the whole strike zone and used all his pitches.”

T.R. Sullivan elaborates further on the start and provides some video here.

Hamilton’s injury is not considered serious. He left the game for precautionary purposes after jamming his heel while chasing down a Todd Helton double.

Wash on Hamilton, ”He just said his heel felt sore so we removed him. We’ll just see how he is tomorrow. If they feel he’s fine, he’ll be back out there. If they feel he needs another day, we’ll give him another day.”

Ian Kinsler returned to the Rangers line-up Wednesday after missing three days with stiffness in his back. He looked good in the game, going 2 for 3.

Mike Napoli was still out of the line-up as he nurses his groin. That’s 5 straight games now that Nap has missed, and the Rangers aren’t really saying anything as to when he will return. Precaution is key, but it seems the problem is lingering a little longer than they thought.

Quick hits:

Craig Gentry sprained his wrist in the Yu Darvish start (remember the diving attempt…). He’s expected to miss 3-5 days, and had this to say regarding the situation, ”It’s frustrating, but it’s part of the game. When it happens you try to move on, but it’s frustrating not getting at-bats or being able to finish a nine-inning game.”

Martin Perez will get his second Spring Training start today at 3:05 against the Swingin’ A’s. Neil Ramirez, another highly touted Rangers pitching prospect, will also pitch in today’s game. You can listen to the game on TexasRangers.com.

Jean-Jacques Taylor (ESPNDallas) wrote a piece on Julio Borbon and his plight to be the full-time CF. According to Taylor, Ron Washington and others are high on Borbon’s performance so far this spring, and the feeling is that he has surpassed Craig Gentry in the competition for the role.

Borbon on his approach this spring, “I’m finally playing my game the way I want to play. I’m not trying to do what I think the Rangers want me to do. I’m not trying to impress anybody or overdo anything. Sometimes, you work yourself to exhaustion trying to do everything you can – and then you can’t perform.”

Washington on Borbon, “When we showed up to spring training he was ready to play ball because he’d been playing all off-season. He started well and he hasn’t let up.”

Ron Washington isn’t going to bail on Joe Nathan after one bad outing in Spring Training, saying ”Once again we’re in spring training. He has to develop his arm strength. He has to get a feel of what he’s trying to do.”

If you missed Wash on with Ben & Skin (103.3FM, ESPN), you can read some details from the interview here.

Drew Davidson (Star-Telegram) wrote a piece on hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh and the praise he is getting from the players.